Robb, I don't agree with your opinion on Flemming Andersen. His style is *very* different from the Italian artists. The Duck's acting in Andersen's stories is very over-acted and over-done (which I like). Although the Italians have a very flamboyant style, Andersen's work doesn't fit in there.

Egg, the only reason we don't have the edit-function, is because you -and you alone- didn't want any. I don't know why Sander only listened to you, but it's you who's forcing it upon us like some kind of dictator, so don't have the nerve to yell at other members for protesting- it's their right!

Robb_K wrote:What do you think of the art in the Duck stories of Frank McSavage,

I didn't know this name, so I looked it up in Lambiek. So this is the good artist who drew those fabulous old(-fashioned) Grandma Duck-stories! I love them! This is, I personally think, the best style for Grandma and Gus.

Jack Bradbury

In one word: terrible. I know, I know, he's one of the artists who were important to Donald Duck in the 1960's and 1970's, but I just don't like his style. His Ducks are far too skinny and sometimes just plain odd. Bradbury is awful in suggesting movement. He draws little lines to show where the movement is supposed to be going on, but it's like his Ducks always stand still. He uses virtually no backgrounds and his style gives his stories a *too* old-fashioned look.

The Scamp artist who introduced Cousin Feathry(forget name),

Al Hubbard. I don't like him either. He did a lot of characters (much like Bradbury, by the way) and I liked none of them. I didn't even like his Scamp-stories. They look like they don't belong in the Duck-universe, and not in a good way (like Don Rosa). His drawings look like sketches and are very poorly done.

Taliaferro

I like all of his drawings, but I like his early style better than his later style. Like WB, I consider him nearly as important to Donald Duck as Carl Barks.

Dick Moores

I like his Br'r Rabbit-stories *very* much. He's by far the best artist to have worked on Br'r Rabbit, I think. But I can't even look at his Duck-stories! They're just plain awful! Cover them! My eyes hurt! Somebody, please burn his Duck-stories once and for all! Save humanity!

Jack Hannah

Can't comment on this. I only know his animation work. I have noticed that, whenever Hannah is credited as the director of a Donald Duck-cartoon, it has Chip and Dale in it. I don't like those.

Carl Buettner (mostly covers)

He did an awful lot of Bad Wolf-stories, didn't he? For me, he even makes the worst script readable.

Walt Kelly (mostly covers)

I only know some of his covers. They're nice, but nothing more than that.

Vic Lockman, Kay Wright

Oh boy, this also is very, very bad stuff. Who told those people they could draw? Don Rosa is the world's best comic artist compared to them! Were they running out of artists whe they hired them? My little sister can do better than that.

Bill Wright

I'd say Bill Wright is ok, but nothing more. His drawing style is nice, but not fantastic. There's really nothing special about it, nothing that strikes me as memorable.

Manny Gonzales

Is it me, or is it impossible to tell the difference between the (Mouse-)stories by Wright and Gonzales? For Gonzales goes the same as what I said about Wright.

I prefer his Duck-stories. His Mouse-stories are neatly done, and look alot like Wright/Gonzales stories. That's why, until Robb told me, I never knew Jippes did some Mickey-stories too.

Why isn't Ferioli mentioned in this Mouse-section, by the way? I'm a Ferioli-freak!

Jippes

Again: Daan Jippes is great! Fantastic in everything he does! Do you know the comic he made with Martin Lodewijn, the famous 'Two for tea', in 1970-1972? You can definately see his style evoluate all through the comic book. For Jippes-fans, this is a must. First, his style resembles Morris' work (Lucky Luke), then the early Uderzo (Astérix). His Duck-stories have that schwung I like so much. Barkser than Barks: the Jippes-touch.

Freddy Milton

He once was one of the best artists Donald Duck ever saw. Together with Jippes, he created some of the finest Duck-stories ever, after Barks of course. His style has really gone down the last years. He now concentrates on short stories (10 pages at maximum) filled with computer-implanted balloons. It's a shame. Do you know his 'Woody Woodwecker' and 'Gnuff' comics? They're also brilliant.

Ben Verhagen

Too bad he doesn't do any Duck-work anymore. He was terrific, especially when drawing Jan Kruse's stories. The Dutch editors were right when they started their "author-series" (*cough*) with Verhagen. He certainly deserves that. His work is very different from most Duck-artists, but, unlike Hubbard, I appreciate it.

Branca

His stories somehow always give you the feeling you're watching a cartoon. His suggestion of movement is perfect, his facial expressions are awesome, his timing is terrific and his artwork makes even the worst script worth reading. He will be missed.

Vicar

I know some people, who know me from the Dutch section, will think I'm a Vicar-hater, but that's really not true. I just don't like the fact that he's in *every* other Dutch publication! Also, all the scripts are alike. I know this is not his fault, but it seems that all the predictable scripts are handed over to Vicar. It just isn't fun anymore. Also, he does nothing in his drawings to stand out from the rest, but he's good at his job and draws nice Ducks.

Mau & Bas Heymans

Mau was one of my absolute favorite artists back in the 1990's, but in my opinion, his work really went down hill the last years. His Ducks aren't round and pear-shaped anymore, like his early Ducks. They don't have any body-volume left anymore. Far too skinny. Their necks are absurdly long, even for Mau, and the Duck's beaks look like gangplanks. Daisy hardly looks feminine anymore. Too bad. His brother Bas started out great too, but the computer balloons destroyed much. Nowadays, his drawings are not that bad, bt not quite as good as they used to be.

Jan Gulbransson

In my eyes, he's a very under-appreciated artist. On the Dutch section, it's said a comic book with his work will be produced. I'm glad to hear this. Everybody should be able to enjoy this fine artwork.

Volker Reiche

I know too little about him to comment on his work. Didn't he only draw 6 stories for Holland?

Mark de Jonge

Also, a very underappreciated artist. I was surprised, but awfully glad, to see two comic books in Holland dedictated to him. That gives him the honour he deserves. I like it how he draws the Ducks just a bitter rounder and fuller than most artists. He is a master of facial experssions too. His work is very lively and appealing. His Gus Goos is, together with McSavage, the goose I prefer.

Jules Coenen

I only saw some panels from him at Lambiek, but what I saw, I didn't like.

Sander Gulien

Some people have been hailing him as the new Daan Jippes, but I'm not excited. His characters are awfully often out of proportion. Often the Duck's beaks are too nig for their heads, or there's something wrong in their atonomy, especially when he shows them walking. His suggestion of movement also isn't that good. His secondary characters are liveless and miss personality. He draws a terrible Scrooge.

Michel Nadorp

This man knows how to draw Donald the right way. Gulien could learn a lot from him. But also, Nadorp's Ducks don't really stand out. While they're well drawn, they're kind of average.

Flemming Andersen

While I still like him, I think he was better in the 1990's. Nowadays, I think his lay-outs are messy and disturbing. He should concentrate on his Ducks rather than thnking up the weirdest lay-outs ever. I like his over-the-topness very much. His Ducks often look *very* distorted and they're over-acting often more than Jim Carrey in a comedy, but it's just something I happen to like.

Massimo De Vita

I used to always confuse his work with the early Cavazzano, but later I read Cavazzano was a pupil of DeVita, is that right? That would explain it. DeVita's drawings are nice. I like his Mouse-works much more than his Duck-work.

Santanache

Terrible! As long as you're still burning Moore's work, can this be burnt too?

Xavi

Average stuff. No need to burn it, but also no need to buy it.

Scalabroni

His work is decent and neat, but nothing more than that. Robb said he confused him to Branca, but I wouldn't say Scalabroni is anywhere near as good as Branca (virtually nobody is).

Colomer

His Duck-work is average, but his Joe Carioca-comics are terrific. As a kid, I always thought they were drawn by the same artist who drew the Carioca Sunday strips from the 1940's.

Why hasn't Francesco Peinado been mentioned in the Duck-section? I'm crazy about his work!

Rockerduck wrote:McSavage - So this is the good artist who drew those fabulous old(-fashioned) Grandma Duck-stories! I love them! This is, I personally think, the best style for Grandma and Gus.

Jack Bradbury

In one word: terrible. I know, I know, he's one of the artists who were important to Donald Duck in the 1960's and 1970's, but I just don't like his style. His Ducks are far too skinny and sometimes just plain odd. Bradbury is awful in suggesting movement. He draws little lines to show where the movement is supposed to be going on, but it's like his Ducks always stand still. He uses virtually no backgrounds and his style gives his stories a *too* old-fashioned look.

The Scamp artist who introduced Cousin Feathry(forget name),

Al Hubbard. I don't like him either. He did a lot of characters (much like Bradbury, by the way) and I liked none of them. I didn't even like his Scamp-stories. They look like they don't belong in the Duck-universe, and not in a good way (like Don Rosa). His drawings look like sketches and are very poorly done.

Taliaferro

I like all of his drawings, but I like his early style better than his later style. Like WB, I consider him nearly as important to Donald Duck as Carl Barks.

Dick Moores

I like his Br'r Rabbit-stories *very* much. He's by far the best artist to have worked on Br'r Rabbit, I think. But I can't even look at his Duck-stories! They're just plain awful! Cover them! My eyes hurt! Somebody, please burn his Duck-stories once and for all! Save humanity!

Jack Hannah

Can't comment on this. I only know his animation work. I have noticed that, whenever Hannah is credited as the director of a Donald Duck-cartoon, it has Chip and Dale in it. I don't like those.

Carl Buettner (mostly covers)

He did an awful lot of Bad Wolf-stories, didn't he? For me, he even makes the worst script readable.

Walt Kelly (mostly covers)

I only know some of his covers. They're nice, but nothing more than that.

Vic Lockman, Kay Wright

Oh boy, this also is very, very bad stuff. Who told those people they could draw? Don Rosa is the world's best comic artist compared to them! Were they running out of artists whe they hired them? My little sister can do better than that.

Bill Wright

I'd say Bill Wright is ok, but nothing more. His drawing style is nice, but not fantastic. There's really nothing special about it, nothing that strikes me as memorable.

Manny Gonzales

Is it me, or is it impossible to tell the difference between the (Mouse-)stories by Wright and Gonzales? For Gonzales goes the same as what I said about Wright.

I prefer his Duck-stories. His Mouse-stories are neatly done, and look alot like Wright/Gonzales stories. That's why, until Robb told me, I never knew Jippes did some Mickey-stories too.

Why isn't Ferioli mentioned in this Mouse-section, by the way? I'm a Ferioli-freak!

Jippes

Again: Daan Jippes is great! Fantastic in everything he does! Do you know the comic he made with Martin Lodewijn, the famous 'Two for tea', in 1970-1972? You can definately see his style evoluate all through the comic book. For Jippes-fans, this is a must. First, his style resembles Morris' work (Lucky Luke), then the early Uderzo (Astérix). His Duck-stories have that schwung I like so much. Barksier than Barks: the Jippes-touch.

Freddy Milton

He once was one of the best artists Donald Duck ever saw. Together with Jippes, he created some of the finest Duck-stories ever, after Barks of course. His style has really gone down the last years. He now concentrates on short stories (10 pages at maximum) filled with computer-implanted balloons. It's a shame. Do you know his 'Woody Woodpecker' and 'Gnuff' comics? They're also brilliant.

Ben Verhagen

Too bad he doesn't do any Duck-work anymore. He was terrific, especially when drawing Jan Kruse's stories. The Dutch editors were right when they started their "author-series" (*cough*) with Verhagen. He certainly deserves that. His work is very different from most Duck-artists, but, unlike Hubbard, I appreciate it.

Branca

His stories somehow always give you the feeling you're watching a cartoon. His suggestion of movement is perfect, his facial expressions are awesome, his timing is terrific and his artwork makes even the worst script worth reading. He will be missed.

Vicar

I just don't like the fact that Vicar's in *every* other Dutch publication! Also, he does nothing in his drawings to stand out from the rest, but he's good at his job and draws nice Ducks.

Mau & Bas Heymans

Mau was one of my absolute favorite artists back in the 1990's, but in my opinion, his work really went down hill the last years. His Ducks aren't round and pear-shaped anymore, like his early Ducks. They don't have any body-volume left anymore. Far too skinny. Their necks are absurdly long, even for Mau, and the Duck's beaks look like gangplanks. Daisy hardly looks feminine anymore. Too bad. His brother Bas started out great too. Nowadays, his drawings are not that bad, bt not quite as good as they used to be.

Jan Gulbransson

In my eyes, he's a very under-appreciated artist.

Volker Reiche

I know too little about him to comment on his work. Didn't he only draw 6 stories for Holland?

Mark de Jonge

Also, a very underappreciated artist. I was surprised, but awfully glad, to see two comic books in Holland dedictated to him. That gives him the honour he deserves. I like it how he draws the Ducks just a bitter rounder and fuller than most artists. He is a master of facial experssions too. His work is very lively and appealing. His Gus Goose is, together with McSavage, the goose I prefer.

Jules Coenen

I only saw some panels from him at Lambiek, but what I saw, I didn't like.

Sander Gulien

Some people have been hailing him as the new Daan Jippes, but I'm not excited. His characters are awfully often out of proportion. Often the Duck's beaks are too nig for their heads, or there's something wrong in their atonomy, especially when he shows them walking. His suggestion of movement also isn't that good. His secondary characters are liveless and miss personality. He draws a terrible Scrooge.

Michel Nadorp

This man knows how to draw Donald the right way. Gulien could learn a lot from him. But also, Nadorp's Ducks don't really stand out. While they're well drawn, they're kind of average.

Flemming Andersen

While I still like him, I think he was better in the 1990's. Nowadays, I think his lay-outs are messy and disturbing. He should concentrate on his Ducks rather than thnking up the weirdest lay-outs ever. I like his over-the-topness very much. His Ducks often look *very* distorted and they're over-acting often more than Jim Carrey in a comedy, but it's just something I happen to like.

Massimo De Vita

I used to always confuse his work with the early Cavazzano, but later I read Cavazzano was a pupil of DeVita, is that right? That would explain it. DeVita's drawings are nice. I like his Mouse-works much more than his Duck-work.

Santanache

Terrible! As long as you're still burning Moore's work, can this be burnt too?

Xavi

Average stuff. No need to burn it, but also no need to buy it.

Scalabroni

His work is decent and neat, but nothing more than that. Robb said he confused him to Branca, but I wouldn't say Scalabroni is anywhere near as good as Branca (virtually nobody is).

Colomer

His Duck-work is average, but his Joe Carioca-comics are terrific. As a kid, I always thought they were drawn by the same artist who drew the Carioca Sunday strips from the 1940's.

Why hasn't Francesco Peinado been mentioned in the Duck-section? I'm crazy about his work!

Thanks for your comments, Rockerduck. I agree with your taste on much, but disagree on several. Personally, it seems clear to me that Flemming Andersen used Cavazzano's style as a model (and I have heard several people at Egmont and elsewhere say that he was told to do that if he wanted his stories bought for the pocketbooks. No Danes (or Northern Europeans were considered for drawing Duck stories for Anders And and Extra and any of the 4- tier books at that time, as Egmont's contract with the Spanish Studios provided such a low-cost supply. When Egmont changed to 4-tier style for their pocketbook stories, that was not related to his being allowed to draw.

I agree with you that the Duck art of Al Hubbard, Kay Wright, Vic lockman, the later Tony Strobl work, Paul Murray, Santanach and Jules Coenen are all very poor, and I don't like to look at it. I would also put Eisenberg's and Xavi's work on that list, as well as McSavage's (way off model-although nice art-but not fitting The Ducks as defined by Barks)-as well as Dick Moores' (way off model, but interesting). I would also add Colomer to this list, as his Ducks were way off model, too. And I didn't like his secondary characters. Carl Buettner drew some decent Duck covers. I am not thrilled with Jack Bradbury's Duck work, but to me it's a lot easier to look at than the very poor work that I listed above. But I don't like it even as much as that of Moore's or de Jonge, or Reiche. Volker Reiche only worked on 6 stories for Oberon, and Jan Gulbransson drew the final pencils and inks for one of those. But Reiche's work on the five was quite good.

I like Ben Verhagen's work very much. I agree that Vicar is okay, but nothing special. He draws too much detail, and his panels are too cluttered. He has had a lot of different inkers, each of whose own styles come through strongly. But I don't like any of them much. Branca was definately, by far, the best of the Egmont artists (not considering Jippes). But, I would say that Scalabroni is better than their average, and when I referred to looking at his index, and now understanding that many covers and stories that I thoght were among the poorer Brancas, were actually his. I wouldn't put him near Branca's class, as only his best work appraches Branca's worst. But he's definately a cut above the average Egmont artist. I don't know Peinado's work, as I don't live part-time in Denmark anymore, and don't pay much attention to Danish stories in Het Weekblad and DD Extra, unless I see a story by one of my friends (Gulbransson, Milton, Jonker, Jippes), or a Branca or Van Horn story, or an unusually well-drawn recent Mau or Bas Heymans or Gulien story. I shall look Peinado up on the Lambiek site. Michel Nadorp did a good job on those stories he drew, and he draws nice covers. I wish he'd draw more stories (but he needs to give his solid black eyeballs pie-cuts!). Freddy Milton and Daan Jippes working on pencils, and Ben Verhagen doing the inks, were a fantastic trio, creating Duck stories "almost as good as Barks". Jan Gulbransson can draw really well now. I hope everyone will see some of his more recent stories soon.

I like Manny Gonzales' Mouse 2nd to Gottfredson, and Bill Wright's a close third. I like Dick Moore's Mouse next, but not nearly as high as the others -and Paul Murray's about the same. Paul Murray drew a very good Bre'r Rabbit strip in the late '40s, as did Moores. Mark de Jonge drew fairly nice Ducks, but his distorted beaks ruined his work for me. Of course, Scarpa did a great job on the Mice. I don't like his distorted Ducks. A lot of Walt Kelly's Duck covers are very nice, and a few of them approach Barks' quality. Jack Hanna's comic book Duck was patterened a bit after Taliaferro's and the Disney Studios' model sheets.

having checked the Inducks and remembering a little more on Frank McSavage i feel I should clarify something, i dont quite get what it is - his Grandma Duck and Gus Goose are absolutely wonderful. However I think his general ducks and mice (Donald and the nephews/Mickey Mouse) lack something and I think that what it is - having read a couple of the old Dell stories with him at the helm - leads once again to bad writing, something that plagued many characters. i really think his artwork in the idyllic country settings of Grandma Duck stories are very pretty. he's certainly not Barks and I think thats kind of the point - he doesn't try to be. As a result his stories dont seem to have that refined hue to them (larger eyes, larger beak size), but everything looks so animated and lively.

http://outducks.org/webusers/webusers/us_dda_021c_001.jpg

I really like the composition of this page. Its very well drafted IMO. My main problem with his mice though is that he tends to draw thier heads too big so Mickey, Morty, Ferdie, and Minnie all look like strange bobbleheads. Go fig. I don't think he's a bad artist at all, but like i said, his real forte seems to be Grandma and Gus Goose concentrated stories, as thats where his artwork really shines.

Jack Bradbury

In one word: terrible. I know, I know, he's one of the artists who were important to Donald Duck in the 1960's and 1970's, but I just don't like his style. His Ducks are far too skinny and sometimes just plain odd. Bradbury is awful in suggesting movement. He draws little lines to show where the movement is supposed to be going on, but it's like his Ducks always stand still. He uses virtually no backgrounds and his style gives his stories a *too* old-fashioned look.

i agree with you on that. I am just not a fan of his ducks and totally lukewarm to his mice. A stiff Mickey in a suit and tie does not behoove me. if i were to rank the Dell mouse artists it'd probably go "Early Paul Murry, Bill Wright, Jack Bradbury, Late Paul Murry, Tony Strobl" with the bottom three being my least favorite. =

The thing about Bill Wright - he's very stiff also - but for some odd reason his longer adventure stories seemed a mite more tolerable in spots than Paul Murry's which had a tendency to meander into the realm of ludicrous and boring (perhaps its because I've only read a scant few Wright stories that I can say this, but another plus is that all of his stories came about in the early Dell Mickey period, when Murry was also at his best). I recall "Mickey Mouse on Spooks Island" in particular being one of his best and darkest in terms of art and writing, a rare for Dell Mickey Mouse. i think one of the reasons that he is not quite as reviled as Murry is due to two things:

1. He was, for all intents and purposes, better or worse, the closest Dell ever got to imitating Gottfredson's style. Murry's style was all his own by the time he got to Dell and mutated for the worse as time went on.

2 While many of his stories also suffer from "uninspired Dell mickey syndrome" there was not a NEVERENDING GLUT of them like Murry so its easier to separate the truly bad ones from the truly good ones.

What holds Wright back from being a truly great craftsman in the comic Mickey genre is A) the stiffness (a curse with many Mickey artists it seems), B) the lack of original (and more importantly good) stories drawn by him, C) as I have said before - a large bulk of his comics work was redrawing numerous toned down Gottfredson work and D) His earliest solo work with his best art were various Mickey Mouse gag pages where he'd sub for Gottfredson himself, and there are no story elements there at all.

*EVERYBODY* prefers the far superior originals to the cut-off remakes, so in the end his material leaves little left to chance (which is why I cited Spooks Island as being one of the better and darker stories i'd seen come out of him from Dell). I've also heard many people praise "The Ghost Of Man-Eater Mountain" which was serialized in WDC&S as well.

He's not the greatest Mickey artist, but in my mind he's really the only other alternative to Paul Murry thats out there as theres not much else (Jack Bradbury? the stories he got were as bad as Murry's. Frank McSavage? Bobblehead syndrome. No thanks) worth competing with.

BTW - there are three ways to tell him apart from Manuel Gonzales. 1) As far as I know, Gonzales never did any work for Dell. Any major newspaper comic storylines solely by him usually involved Ellsworth. 2. His Mickey looks a lot more like the late animated version of Mickey at that time (polo shirt untucked, hat) 3. Gonzales and Wright draw very different Goofy's: Gonzales Goofy's chin is not always connected to his neck whereas Bill Wright's Goofy always is.

If Paul Murry had not slowly become so gal-darned stiff, dull, and lifeless maybe things would have been better. I dunno.

on McSavage i should clarify - I dont like his ducks in general. I do like the Grandma Duck renditions however (but I havent read the bulk of the stories in question). The image I was trying to post was this:

I have been reading Disney & other comics for over 40 years and know that tastes can be diffterent depending on what one is exposed to as a kid. I grew up in India and there, as in most places without old newspaper strips, Floyd Gottfredson is almost unknown. I grew up on a diet of Paul Murry's Mickey Mouse with a sprinkiling of Jack Bradbury. I had not seen Gottfredson's art till I came to the UK in 1985; but try as I might (and I did try very hard, I promise!), I simply could not identift with Gottfredson's style of Mickey - old as it might be. I found the plotting and dialog terribly dated; in fact I refer Bill Wright's redrawn versions of classics like "Monarch of Medioka" or "MM Outwits the Phantom Blot". Murry's serials with Carl Fallberg were quite good; Jack Bradbury's MM was a bit lightweight, but readable.

I don't like the overhyped sentiment among Floyd Gottfredson's fans who think that everyone should like only that style of Mickey Mouse. Unfortunately, this style is often prevalent among publishers too, like Gladstone in the 1980s; all it resulted was them shooting themselves in their own feet and the Gottfiredson stories were a flop with contemporary audience.

But Carl Barks' work has not dated at all. He is in a different class altogether and I like his work very much. Don Rosa is, of course, brilliant. William van Horn's Donald Duck 10-pagers used to be very funny in the past, but he is definitely losing his touch now. I like Vicar as an artist, but he is just that and does not seem to be involved in the plotting. Pat Block & Ben Verhagen (where is BV now?) are also good, though BV's rendering of Huey, Dewey & Louie with a perpetual squint is annoying.